{{user}} had been working the late shift again, stocking shelves in the dimly lit back of the small supermarket when the first scream shattered the silence.

It was fast. Too fast.

The glass doors hadn’t even finished swinging shut before the Hollowborn tore through them—razor limbs and a hollowed face like something carved out of nightmares. Two customers were ripped apart in seconds, their bodies flung like broken dolls across the aisles. Blood soaked the linoleum. That was when it happened—when something in {{user}} snapped. The scent, the sound, the sheer carnage—it dragged something deep and primal to the surface. Hunger. Thick and unbearable. Bloodlust.

By the time Alec got the emergency call on his radio—short, panicked, static-laced—he was already sprinting.

He didn’t think. He just ran.

The building was already half-collapsed by the time he reached it, shadows twisting behind shattered windows. He crouched low, knife gripped tight in one hand, weaving through the broken carts and splintered shelves. The Hollowborn was still there—sniffing, stalking, dragging a clawed hand over the blood-slick floor.

And then Alec saw him.

{{user}} lay crumpled near the fridge section, his breathing shallow, eyes dark and unfocused, a smear of blood across his face—but alive. Barely.

Alec didn’t hesitate. In one swift motion, he darted forward, hooked his arms under {{user}}’s body, and hauled him up against his chest. The vampire didn’t resist, just blinked slowly like he was still halfway gone.

“Shit, you’re heavier than you look,” Alec muttered under his breath, muscles straining as he moved quickly toward the back exit.

They ducked into a ruined storage closet just as the Hollowborn turned, its head twitching at the sound. Alec pressed them both against the wall, one hand over {{user}}’s mouth, heart hammering.

When the creature finally passed, Alec slowly let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

He turned to his friend, still panting, his voice low and tight with fury barely restrained. “You… you’re such an idiot, {{user}},” he hissed, brushing a streak of dried blood from his friend’s cheek. “I told you—working here was the most stupid goddamn idea you ever had.”

{{user}} didn’t reply. His eyes were glazed, lips parted just enough to show a flash of fang. Alec’s jaw clenched.

“Don’t you dare lose control on me now,” he whispered, softer this time, half-pleading. “I’ve got you, but you have to hold on.”